COCONUT HERTZOGGIE BARS

Ingredients

For the tart base

• 2 cups cake or self-rising pastry flour, sifted
• 2 tablespoons icing/castor sugar
• 90g coconut oil or margarine softened, not melted

For the coconut Frangipane filling

• 80g vegan butter or margarine at room temperature
• 125g castor sugar
• 40g smooth apricot jam
• 90ml Aquafaba (chickpea brine)
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups shredded coconut
• 30g all-purpose flour, sifted
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup smooth apricot jam

Method

For the base

1. Combine the flour and icing sugar/castor sugar in a large bowl. Add the softened coconut oil or margarine and rub it into the dry ingredients with your fingers until your flour looks like breadcrumbs.
2. Add ice-cold water, 1 tablespoon at a time (I added a ¼ cup).
3. Combine all the ingredients into a dough gently. Wrap it up in a piece of cling film and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
4. Remove the dough from the fridge and roll it out between two sheets of baking paper until you get a circle or square large enough to cover your entire baking tin case, about 2-3mm in thickness.
5. Place the rolled-out dough over a tart case and gently line the inside of it with the pastry. Tuck the pastry in well.
6. Trim the excess pastry and patch any holes with the cut-off excess.
7. Pierce the bottom of the pastry with a fork in a few places and chill the pastry-lined tart case in the fridge for about 60 minutes.
8. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line the pastry case with parchment paper and fill with baking beads or rice for a blind bake.
9. Blind bake the pastry for 15 minutes. Remove the paper and beads and bake for another 10 minutes.

For the coconut Frangipane filling

1. While the pastry base is baking, prepare the filling.
2. Cream the oil/margarine and sugar. Whisk in the flour. Add the Aquafaba, a small amount at a time. Whisk well after each portion of Aquafaba has been added.
3. Gently fold in the shredded coconut and vanilla extract with a spatula. You should end up with a thick batter.
4. Spread the smooth apricot jam onto the base, then fill the pastry case with coconut frangipane and spread the filling evenly.
5. Sprinkle over more coconut and castor sugar.
6. Bake the tart for about 30-40 minutes, until the filling is nicely browned.
7. Remove from the oven and allow the tart to cool down before removing it from the tin and cutting it into squares or slices.
8. Store or freeze in an airtight container.